Morris Arboretum Andrea Baldeck: The Texture of Trees Through September

Morris Arboretum The Art of Patrick DoughertyMarch 30-April 18

Renowned artist Patrick Dougherty will be an artist in residence at the Morris Arboretum from March 30-April 18. Dougherty will weave hundreds of sticks and saplings into a whimsical site-specific creation along the banks of the Wissahickon Creek. Arriving at the site of each new installation with no preconceptions as to what he will create, he draws inspiration and materials from the surrounding environment to design a large-scale structure.

Penn Museum Surviving: The Body of EvidenceThrough May 2009

Above: Dr. Alan Mann, co-curated the exhibit

Above: Dr. Janet Monge, Acting Curator of the Physical Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology co-curated Surviving: The Body of Evidence.

Penn MuseumFulfilling a Prophecy: the Past and Present of the Lenape in PennsylvaniaThrough September 2009

Lenape Meesing Candle holder made of metal and paint. Each year, the Lenape of Pennsylvania honor Meesing, the protector of the woodlands, with a fall Meesing ceremony. At the ceremony, a member of the Medicine Society, a group of men responsible for organizing and performing the Meesing ceremony, represents Meesing as a dancer. The Meesing dancer prepares for his task during the year preceding the ceremony by meditating on Meesing and making objects with Meesing’s image, which are given to the Medicine Society. One year, the Meesing dancer made a series of Meesing candleholders.

A Lenape fan made of beads, deerskin and feathers rests in the hands of Shelley DePaul, director of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania and co-curator of Penn Museum’s new exhibition, Fulfilling a Prophecy: the Past and Present of the Lenape in Pennsylvania.

Photos: Lauren Hansen-Flaschen.

Penn MuseumHimalaya: Land of the Snow Lion

Through March 2009

Penn Presents

Danú, one of today’s leading Irish music ensembles, performs at the Zellerbach Theatre March 7. Danú will captivate audiences with the traditional timbres of flute, tin whistle, fiddles and more, complete with festive Irish dances and familiar Celtic melodies.

Taikoproject, a youthful ensemble of premier taiko drummers. Filled with contemporized tradition, striking rhythms and energetic movement, this high-energy group incorporates unconventional and
innovative concepts to expand the artistry of the taiko art form. March 6 at the Zellerbach Theatre.

Ballet Boyz come to the Zellerbach Theatre on March 17. Founders Michael Nunn and William Trevitt, formerly lead dancers with The Royal Ballet, have made a dramatic mark on the British dance scene. The Company has numerous works in its repertoire crafted by some of the most important and influential choreographers of their generation.

Burrison Gallery

Still Life; photography by Benjamin Pierce

Photographs from a professor in the department of computer and information science that concentrate on the human body, often in abstracted or transmuted form; Burrison Gallery. Through April 3.

Slought Foundation

Peter Weibel, Rewriter

Through March 11, 2009

Retrospective of the work of media and conceptual artist, Peter Weibel, including photos, films and other works, 1964-1975.

Slought Foundation

Art of Limina: Gary Hill

Through May 1, 2009

Art of Limina: Gary Hill; defined by a sensibility of openness, complexity, and subtlety of language resembling an “open” universe, the exhibit features installations by Gary Hill and an essay by collaborating artist/critic George Quasha; Slought Foundation; reception: March 21, 6:30 p.m.

Institute of Contemporary Art

Through March 29

Top: Touch Sensitive: Anthony Campuzano; witty snatches of phrases from the internet, television, the radio, signs, and personal notes are set against intensely worked backgrounds.

Bottom left: Joshua Mosley: Dread; six-minute animated video and five related bronze sculptures; the video presents an imagined conversation between the philosophers Blaise Pascal and Jean-Jacques Rousseau on the difficulty of resolving the human relationship to nature while also accepting God as the creator.

Bottom right: Dirt on Delight: Impulses That Form Clay; presentation of the work of twenty-two artists who have created significant work in clay, all of which appear to be in some state of flux or growth.

Wistar Institute

Nikon Small World

Fluorescent magnification turns a common thrips (Thripidae) into an otherworldly, yet seemingly friendly, creature. The image produced by microscopist James Hayden at the Wistar Institute earned an Image of Distinction honor in the 34th Nikon Small World photomicrography contest and exhibit, on display at Wistar through March 13.

Van Pelt-Dietrich Library

October 27, 2008 - March 22, 2009

Kamin Gallery, 1st floor,
Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center

Life in Boxes: Comic Art and Artifacts

Boxes are the ruled surroundings of every comic strip and comic book panel, and even constitute the twenty-four frames per second of the animated film. This exhibition reflects the history and development of these various genres and includes original art, comic books, graphic novels, volumes of single panel cartoons, histories, and criticism drawn from the collection of more than 5,000 books and over 20,000 comic books recently donated to the Penn Libraries by alumnus Steven Rothman. (above) Featured are editorial cartoons; superheroes; underground comix; Terry and the Pirates, Peanuts, and Pogo, Donald Duck and Dirty Duck, Little Lulu, Little Orphan Annie and Little Annie Fanny, Superman and Super Goof.

George Romney's Lady Hamilton as Sensibility

Emma Hamilton's Path to Fame; Exhibition features items from the collections of Jean Kislak and Penn's Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Image courtesy of the Historical Society of PA

Francis Johnson: Early Music Master of Philadelphia; Celebrating the acquisition of Francis Johnson sheet music from the collection of Kurt Stein.

Eugene Ormandy Gallery through Fall 2009.

meta Metasequoia
Morris Arboretum Ongoing

Nestled within the dawn redwood grove, meta Metasequoia will provide a fresh perspective of these wonderful trees. The exhibit will elevate visitors up into the tree canopy of the dawn redwoods by means of an artistic structure with stairs leading to the "basket," an open-air room whose floor is 12 feet above grade. Climbing up into the structure, nicknamed the "Grasshopper," visitors will be able to revisit the childhood feeling of being in a tree house, enjoy the views and relax in unusual intimacy with these majestic trees.

Lobby, GSEA Wonderful Life:
A Daughter's Tribute to a Family of EducatorsOngoing